London: Printed for Tho. Lownds in Fleet-Street, 1765. First edition. A handsome copy of Walpole's gothic masterpiece. Octavo (104 x 171 mm.), collating complete: A4 , B8-N8, O4 (viii, 200 pp.) Bound in full green morocco by Riviere. Boards ruled in gilt, spine titled in gilt, with raised bands and decorated compartments. Elaborate gilt turn-ins and all edges gilt. Slight rubbing to the joints with a bit of color added. Internal contents are generally clean and fresh, although presumably washed when the book was rebound. Bookplates on the end papers with some old bookseller notions in pencil.

Hailed as the first gothic novel, Horace Walpole was inspired by a nightmare. An early adopter of medievalism, Walpole drew from chivalric romance and epic stories to craft a dramatic tale of prophecy, inheritance, secret identity, and romance. Framed as if the book is an English translation of an Italian retelling of a high medieval story, the novel follows Manfred’s misguided schemes to avoid an ancient prophecy and maintain his rulership over his castle in Otranto. Like his famous dwelling, Strawberry Hill, Walpole’s text evokes a fantastical medieval aesthetic in its design to transport and entertain a modern audience. The haunting novel’s “influence on Poe is manifest, and it has survived in such novels as Bram Stoker's Dracula and in modern mystery stories and horror films" (PMM).

Provenance: Christine Alexander Graham; Thomas N. Gundersen; J. F. Hinckley; The Newberry Library (deaccessioned 1994).

PMM 211. Near Fine (Item #7544)